Commercial grade zero turn mowers

[fireman32]

My old exmark finally gave up after 15 years of hard labor. It was a great mower, but they haven’t gotten any cheaper. Looking at them and Bad Boy mowers, the bad boy is a bit cheaper as best I can tell with similar build quality. I’d like to stay between these two as there are dealers nearby. Any thoughts on the Bad Boy mowers?
I mow 5 acres every week to two weeks.

 

[DAWG1419]

I bought this one May 2019. Better Cut and ride than any Exmark I ever owned. Can’t wait for the grass to get to growing again this year

 

[earlthegoat2]

I use a Toro Grandstand for my business.

I won’t say it is the best in cut quality but it is definitely the most durable of all the standers I have used between Scag, JD, Wright, Gravely, and Bobcat.

The Toro is a 2015 and I bought it used in 2019 and doubled the hours and it is still going strong even with the Kohler oil burner.

 

[LTZ25]

With lawn mowers you get what you pay for .

 

[fireman32]

View attachment 1212362
I bought this one May 2019. Better Cut and ride than any Exmark I ever owned. Can’t wait for the grass to get to growing again this year

I’m familiar with the Deere’s, my late boss bought 3 of them over the last few years. We use them to keep the shop and his place mowed. They cut good with a good ride, the last two have had a few small gremlins is my only concern with them. Safety switch under the seat and an ignition wire problem to be exact. Still good mowers.

 

[fireman32]

My 27 hp Kohler on the exmark had 9,000 hours.

 

[earlthegoat2]

My 27 hp Kohler on the exmark had 9,000 hours.

I don’t how yours was but Kohlers have a legendary oil burning reputation. I was speaking to a Kohler tech at a training seminar about this. He said that using 1 oz of oil per cylinder per hour is within spec. Whaaat??!!

At the time I was working with a fleet of tow behind turbine blowers that were being run around 6 hrs per day. Ch740 V-twins. Each one went through nearly exactly a qt of oil every three days. Perfectly in spec.

Perfectly in spec meant tons of carbon buildup in the combustion chamber and on the top of the pistons. So much in fact that I had to deal with cracked valves, stuck valves, holes in pistons, stuck rings, pre-ignition, detonation, and blown head gaskets all caused by oil consumption.

Thise were all horizontal shaft. For some reason, I have never had the same problems with the vertical shaft engines.

 

[Duff]

I’ve had a bad boy for a few years. Has served me well. Very well built. Blades are unreal. I have never sharpened the original blades and they still cut pretty good. Probably will sharpen before I start this year. I would buy one again.

 

[fireman32]

I don’t how yours was but Kohlers have a legendary oil burning reputation. I was speaking to a Kohler tech at a training seminar about this. He said that using 1 oz of oil per cylinder per hour is within spec. Whaaat??!!

At the time I was working with a fleet of tow behind turbine blowers that were being run around 6 hrs per day. Ch740 V-twins. Each one went through nearly exactly a qt of oil every three days. Perfectly in spec.

Perfectly in spec meant tons of carbon buildup in the combustion chamber and on the top of the pistons. So much in fact that I had to deal with cracked valves, stuck valves, holes in pistons, stuck rings, pre-ignition, detonation, and blown head gaskets all caused by oil consumption.

Thise were all horizontal shaft. For some reason, I have never had the same problems with the vertical shaft engines.

First several years it was a tank, after that it started burning oil. After 10 years or so it’d burn .25 of a quart in 2-3 hours of cutting. That’s what eventually killed it. Bro in law jumped on it and ran it for 20 minutes or so and locked it down. May still put a replacement motor on it for a spare, rest of the mower is still in decent shape.

 

[Tblank]

Bought the toro z master 4000 2 years ago and haven’t had any problems. 60 inch cut with the Kawasaki engine.

 

[B. White]

I've got a Bad Boy Rogue with a Kawasaki on it's 3rd year. There was a problem with the drive belt pulley and I had a warranty replacement. I don't know if it was a run of soft steel in a batch of pulleys or improper torque at installation. That was the only problem and would have been an easy fix if no warranty at the time. Getting to everything for routine maintenance is a lot easier than the other brands I've owned.

 

[GeorgiaGlockMan]

View attachment 1212362
I bought this one May 2019. Better Cut and ride than any Exmark I ever owned. Can’t wait for the grass to get to growing again this year

That's the same mower I have.

My wife will hardly me ride it..lol

 

[Gaswamp]

First several years it was a tank, after that it started burning oil. After 10 years or so it’d burn .25 of a quart in 2-3 hours of cutting. That’s what eventually killed it. Bro in law jumped on it and ran it for 20 minutes or so and locked it down. May still put a replacement motor on it for a spare, rest of the mower is still in decent shape.

got to love brother in laws

 

[REDMOND1858]

X2 on the Deere. Found a used one about 5 years ago at the local JD dealership. Good bit of hours but it was the biggest commercial mower JD made. Had it listed for around $6000 (pretty dang good deal). I called up there and asked what they’d take, salesman said we’re in the tractor business not the mower business, we just want it off our yard. Bring me $2500 and I’ll load it up for ya.

I took him $2500 that day. Best $2500 I ever spent. Still going strong cutting 5 acres a week with over 1800 hours.

 

[ucfireman]

First several years it was a tank, after that it started burning oil. After 10 years or so it’d burn .25 of a quart in 2-3 hours of cutting. That’s what eventually killed it. Bro in law jumped on it and ran it for 20 minutes or so and locked it down. May still put a replacement motor on it for a spare, rest of the mower is still in decent shape.

I put a new 27hp ** on my mower 2 years ago. 1000.00 installed. Hope to get a decent # of years out of it, cheaper than 10000.00 for a new mower.

Im sure your aware, get a GOOD SEAT. I bought a suspension seat for mine (it didn't have one) best 500 I have spent.

I would say any commercial mower will suit you fine. have you looked at the Spartan line? They have separate wheel motors and pumps instead of the hydro gear trans (not that there is anything wrong with hydro gears), just different.
Most mower brands have some sort of suspension these days.
Toro my ride, Hustler flex forks, Ferris, and a wide assortment of others.
Might be worth looking at. It takes me about 4-5 hours to cut 3-4 acres (spread out and around some trees) and about 5-6 to cut 4+- when its not too grown up. That's a lot of seat time.
You know about the seat time Im sure with 9000 hours.
Let us know what you get and how you like it.

 

[Mauser]

Got a bad boy outlaw extreme 61 inch deck 32hp Kawasaki. Had it since 2012, had one deck spindle replaced under warranty and replaced belts once. So far no other problems.

 

[Lonegle57]

Cut a 22 acre campus after retirement , part time. Had a couple of Skags that eventually wore out, they were many years old when I got on them. Replaced
with Exmarks. Prefer the Exmark. Rode the Ex for a couple years before I turned over fun to new people.

 

[buckpasser]

I just threw another Kohler on mine when it blew up. Somehow found one on sale for $600 and installed myself. The old one somehow decided to shear off both rods at the same time. It made a pretty interesting noise when I tried to restart it!

Besides that, all I can add is that I’m forced to oversee a small fleet of Gravely zeros at work and because of that I would never buy one. The family farm uses JD’s and they make me want to buy one of them next. Great running machines IMO.

 

[mallardsx2]

There is only one.

Scag.

 

[4HAND]

Hustler. Good mowers! Had my 1st for over 10 years. Looks rough, but still mowing. Last fall I bought my second one. Bigger, faster, more comfortable.